5 Heads of State for Global Business Forum on Africa in Dubai

By Dipo Olowookere The bears tightened their grip on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, chopping off 0.34 per cent from the local bourse despite assurances from Mr Yemi Cardoso he would endeavour to ensure the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) restores its independence. Mr Cardoso was confirmed as the new CBN Governor by the Senate yesterday and he promised to formulate evidence-based monetary policies, a departure from his predecessor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who was accused of romancing the President and coming up with trial-and-error policies. Business Post reports that investors were more interested in trimming their exposure to

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the first trading session in the last week of the third quarter of the year on a negative note, with the key performance indices going down by 0.66 per cent on Monday. This was partly caused by the reaction of investors to the 30 Kobo interim dividend declaration of the board of Access Holdings Plc. A few days ago, its peer, UBA Plc, raised its interim dividend payment by 150 per cent to 50 Kobo and it was expected that Access Holdings would follow the same path. However, the company disappointed

By Adedapo Adesanya The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, to clear the backlog of foreign exchange as well as guarantee another recapitalisation in the banking sector. “The clearance of the backlog of forex obligations should be accorded high priority to restore the confidence of domestic and foreign investors,” the Managing Director of CPPE, Mr Muda Yusuf said in a press statement titled Ten Point Agenda For The CBN Governor, released over the weekend. Mr Cardoso and four new deputies on

By Dipo Olowookere MasterCard has announced its intention to help business owners in Nigeria go beyond cash transactions to accepting QR payments. In order to achieve this, the firm is working with Ecobank and Zenith Bank in its pilot scheme called the Masterpass QR bot. This initiative will use Facebook Messenger to provide technology to small businesses in Africa and Asia to drive affordable acceptance of electronic and mobile payments. The pilot in Nigeria is the beginning of a larger plan by the two companies to include more businesses into the digital economy. According to research done by The Fletcher

By Dipo Olowookere One of the leading tier-two lenders in the country, FCMB Plc, has continued to show that it has the capability to deliver good returns to its shareholders, going by the first half results of the firm for the period ended June 30, 2019. For example, the gross earnings reported by the financial institution increased to N89.8 billion from N83.9 billion, while the net interest and discount income rose to N38.7 billion from N35.3 billion, buoyed by the growth in the interest and discount income to N70.4 billion from N64.3 billion and the interest expense of N31.7 billion

The year 2022 has been an eventful one. As we close out on all activities of the year and look forward to a new one, it is important that we begin to envisage what the new year portends and be better prepared. The outgoing year has been marked with some remarkable incidences: President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Electoral Act 2022, the CBN issued a string of controversial announcements, the Nigerian government plans to wean off the subsidy regime starting next year, and 5G made it to Nigeria; however, rollouts have been slow. These and many more are the highlights that

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Sahara Foundation has taken a significant step to promote environmental sustainability and encourage the adoption of recycling as a socio-cultural practice to drive desired behavioural change in waste management in Lagos State. The organisation made this move in partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and Wecyclers, a social enterprise with expertise in recycling. The idea is to experiment with this project, a series of recycling exchange hubs, in 12 of the 20 local government areas of the state. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11 and 17, which speak to Sustainable Cities

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A Lagos-based investment firm, FSDH Research, has identified Real Estate Fund (REF) has the solution to the shortage of housing in Nigeria. In its weekly report, FSDH Research said government can use REF as an investment vehicle to address the housing deficit and encourage economic activity in the real estate sector. Housing is a basic need of all human beings. Other basic human needs include food and clothing. Irrespective of their social or financial status, everyone deserves and needs access to quality and affordable housing. Sadly, in Nigeria, there is a significant shortage of affordable housing. The

By Dipo Olowookere Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a Bill for a Law to Provide for the Prohibition of the Act of Kidnapping and for Other Connected Purposes into law. The bill provided death sentence for kidnappers, whose victims die in their custody and life sentence for kidnappers whose victims do not die in their custody. The passage was subsequent to the earlier adoption of a report presented by Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, the Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, Petitions, Human Rights and Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC). The bill, aimed at ensuring zero tolerance for

By Adedapo Adesanya The Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has disclosed that it generated the sum of N4 895,772,769 as revenue in the month of January 2021. This was disclosed by the NCS Area Comptroller, Mr Adamu Abdulkadir, at the service headquarters in Ibadan, Oyo State. Mr Abdulkadir lauded the achievement, noting that it spoke well of his leadership at the command which he assumed head of last November and also pledged to work hard to tackle the activities of smugglers which he said was making the country lose its revenue. He said the command would

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground after moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session. Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street after the strong gains posted in the previous session lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to their best closing levels in nearly a month. Traders may also look to move money into safe havens ahead of the Federal Reserve?s monetary policy announcement this afternoon. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but